The West-Belconnen Warriors have gone big in their first win of the season, defeating the Yass Magpies 44-6 in round two of the Canberra Region Cup on Saturday the 12th of April.
The Warriors’ Captain and Coach Ryan McQueen was the star of the game, scoring a try and setting up a couple in a huge win to quick-start their season.
It didn’t take long for the West-Belconnen Warriors to get going. A spread to the right-hand side and the strength from centre George Pohahau saw the Warriors strike first, taking a 4-0 lead. A missed conversion from Brandon Withers kept the score at 4-0.
Off the back of some poor handling from the Magpies, Westies took advantage and stormed down the field with some brilliant ball work from the team all around. Big angry front rower Destiny Kalolo then managed to break through a hole, offloading it to five-eighth Ryan McQueen and with quick hands sent it to Calab Edwards for the Westies’ second try, leading 8-0. Withers kicked the conversion to put Westies up 10-0.
With an error from the kick-off, Yass had some great field possession to get back into the game. Some classy footwork from their centre, Cody Bell, made the Westies defence look lacklustre, and crossed for Yass’s first try of the game. Conversion was successful from Kaidan Bell to put the score at 10-6.
The Warriors challenged the visitors with more field possession inside the Magpies 20, leading fullback Tom Haddad to beat one with a sharp right to split the gap and score an easy try to put the Warriors 14-6. The conversion was unsuccessful from Withers.
The Warriors were stabbing the swords through the Magpies’ defence again, as Captain Ryan McQueen threw the dummy and put on the gas to cut through the Magpies’ defence to give them an 18-6 lead.
A big hit from George Pohahau on Yass’s fullback Cooper O’Connor sparked a little scuffle in the middle, and a penalty going the way of Yass gave them a huge chance to go into the break with a try. Unable to get past with some terrific goal line defence, the Warriors ended the half up 18-6.
A fantastic under-the-ball tackle from Warriors second-rower, Jamo Norris, forced the mistake from Yass, which gave the warriors another opportunity. Off the scrum, winger Withers dummied and split straight through the defence and ran half the field to finally give the Warriors the first try in the second half. Withers converted his try to give the Warriors a healthy 24-6 lead.
The Warriors charged through Yass, with quick hands to winger Kylan Edwards he blitzed away down the field and was tackled 10 metres short before the line. The ball went to second rower Sam Green who cut in and almost went over to score. Last tackle and halfback Calab Edwards scooted from dummy half and scored to put the Warriors up 28-6.
The Magpies were slowly starting to fly back to Yass as the Warriors steamrolled down the field with the help of a penalty. Calab Edwards threw the dummy and stepped past defenders to go in for his hat trick. The conversion, successful from Withers, put them up 34-6.
A short kickoff went wrong for the Magpies, and again, the Warriors steamrolled through the defence.
Some fantastic ball work from the left-hand side of the Warriors sent Withers racing down the side line, who spotted and threw the ball to an open Jamo Norris who ran away to score under the post, putting the Warriors up 40-6.
With just seconds remaining, the Magpies forced one too many passes and instead found a flying Jamo Norris, who again nabbed the ball and went 40 metres to score a fantastic try, sealing a well-deserved 44-6 win at Raiders Belconnen.
Captain Ryan McQueen was thoroughly impressed with how the Warriors went away with the game.
“It was pretty good; we had them on the ropes and stuck to it, probably in previous years, we probably would’ve folded a bit, so it was good to capitalise and pull through.”
McQueen believes that starting quickly is crucial in the long run within this competition:
“Yeah, it’s everything. If you lose too many early, it could come back to hurt the team, especially late in the season, and it has previously done that to us, so it’s crucial to start well, so we’re happy with the win.”
The Warriors will take on the Tuggeranong Bushrangers for round three on Sunday, the 27th of April at 3:00 pm at Raiders Belconnen.
The Magpies will look to nab their first win against the in-form Woden Valley Rams to kick off round three on Saturday the 26th of April, at the same time at Walker Park.
Photos by Declan Connell